Sunday in the park with George (and Pete)

ON THE COUCH: With George McCalman and Pete Jost

George McCalman (left) and Pete Jost (right) at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 10, 2010. They met a year ago at a friend's birthday barbecue in Dolores Park.

George McCalman (left) and Pete Jost (right) at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 10, 2010. They met a year ago at a friend's birthday barbecue in Dolores Park.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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George McCalman (left) and Pete Jost (right) at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 10, 2010. They met a year ago at a friend's birthday barbecue in Dolores Park.

George McCalman (left) and Pete Jost (right) at home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 10, 2010. They met a year ago at a friend's birthday barbecue in Dolores Park.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Sunday in the park with George (and Pete)

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It was just a year ago today that these men met in Dolores Park, but the level of comfort between them together suggests they've been together longer.

It was a scorching hot day; Dolores Park, our own little Santa Monica sans ocean, was teeming with life. Both George McCalman and Pete Jost were at the park for a friend's birthday barbecue. Introductions by a mutual pal sparked an old-fashioned courtship involving prolonged longing and playful pursuit.

Pete, 31, now an operations analyst at Flip Video, had recently moved to the City from Napa. A former winemaker, he was at a new job, in a new town, and was on the lookout for connections - specifically for a new circle of friends. The very social George, 38, the art director at Afar magazine, was very friend-ed and friendly. Also very cool.

"And cute," Pete whispered to an acquaintance upon their introduction. Friends are good, he thought, but ...

However cute, George was also very wary. A bit scarred from previous relationships, he'd been in dating hibernation. His stop at the park party was just one on his busy social slate that day. But, after meeting the dashing, and quite sassy, Pete, he found himself ditching the rest of the day's activities.

The day was glorious. The flirting was fantastic. Why shouldn't they repeat it all the following day? A date was made to meet in the park - again.

The next day, by the time the sun had slid down the sky, the guys had talked for hours, been to El Rio, and made out for hours on a street corner deep in the Mission.

Yet there was a teensy cloud on the horizon: Pete was due to go to Spain for a week to visit a "friend" with whom he had been corresponding online. "We'll see about that Spain thing," George thought as they went their separate ways that night. "Spain became my mortal enemy," he adds dramatically.

A week later, there had been enough time to miss each other, though neither made contact. As for Spain ... "Yeah, no," Pete shorthands, indicating that yes, he went, and no, nothing happened. Once Pete had returned stateside, two days passed before George began to fret about their lack of contact. A friend told him: "Dahling, you're expensive, but sometimes you have to be a little bit cheap to remember you're expensive."

George texted; turns out Pete had been sick. A date was arranged and from that one, many more. George lives in Nob Hill, but he adores his boyfriend's cute in-law apartment across town in lower Noe Valley. It's the first time Pete's lived alone, and he admits to sometimes feeling lonely, yet both want to make their move-in together deliberate and with consideration for a future.

"I love being in his company," George says. "I adore this man."

"I have a good feeling about the future," Pete concurs.

"This is so not a boys-meet-in-the park story," George adds.

Both laugh. So what else to say? Happy anniversary.

On courting:

George (left): "We've progressed consciously; it hasn't all been dipped in honey and roses."